Greater German Reich
The Greater German Reich is a European state ruled by the National Socialist German Workers Party consisting of the German Reich, the General Government of Poland, the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Reich Commissariat of Ostland, and the Reich Commissariat of the Ukraine. It is a founding member of the European Union. Germany is a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by the National Socialist German Workers Party. It is bordered by Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Russia. The Greater German Reich is sometimes called the Third Reich. This follows from the Holy Roman Empire (the First Reich), and Imperial Germany ruled by the Hohenzollerns (the Second Reich). =History= Rise of National Socialism On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by Hindenburg after attempts by General Kurt von Schleicher to form a viable government failed (the Machtergreifung). Von Schleicher was hoping he could control Hitler by becoming vice chancellor and also keeping the Nazis a minority in the cabinet. Hindenburg was put under pressure by Hitler through his son Oskar von Hindenburg, as well as intrigue from former Chancellor Franz von Papen, leader of the Catholic Centre Party, whose politics were dictated in part by his desire to combat communism. Even though the Nazis had gained the largest share of the popular vote in the two Reichstag general elections of 1932, they had no majority of their own, and just a slim majority in parliament with their Papen-proposed Nationalist DNVP-NSDAP coalition. This coalition ruled through accepted continuance of the Presidential decree, issued under Article 48 of the 1919 Weimar constitution. The National Socialist treatment of the Jews in the early months of 1933 marked the first step in a longer-term process of removing them from German society. This plan was at the core of Adolf Hitler's "cultural revolution". The new government installed a totalitarian dictatorship in a series of measures in quick succession. On the night of 27 February 1933 the Reichstag building was set on fire and Dutch council communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found inside the building. He was arrested and charged with starting the blaze. The event had an immediate effect on thousands of anarchists, socialists and communists throughout the Reich, many of whom were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. The unnerved public worried that the fire had been a signal meant to initiate the communist revolution, and the Nazis found the event to be of immeasurable value in getting rid of potential insurgents. The event was quickly followed by the Reichstag Fire Decree, rescinding habeas corpus and other civil liberties. The Enabling Act was passed in March 1933, with 444 votes in favour, against 94 of the remaining Social Democrats. The act gave the government (and thus effectively the Nazi Party) legislative powers and also authorized it to deviate from the provisions of the constitution for four years. In effect, Hitler had seized dictatorial powers. Over the next year, the National Socialist Party ruthlessly eliminated all opposition. The Communists had already been banned before the passage of the Enabling Act. The Social Democrats (SPD), despite efforts to appease Hitler, were banned in June. In June and July, the Nationalists (DNVP), People's Party (DVP) and State Party (DStP) were forced to disband. The remaining Catholic Centre Party, at Papen's urging, disbanded itself on 5 July 1933 after guarantees over Catholic education and youth groups. On 14 July 1933 Germany was officially declared a one-party state. Symbols of the Weimar Republic, including the black-red-gold flag (now the present-day flag of Germany), were abolished by the new regime which adopted both new and old imperial symbolism to represent the dual nature of the imperialist-Nazi regime of 1933. The old imperial black-white-red tricolour, almost completely abandoned during the Weimar Republic, was restored as one of Germany's two officially legal national flags. The other official national flag was the swastika flag of the Nazi party. It became the sole national flag in 1935. The national anthem continued to be "Deutschland über Alles" (also known as the "Deutschlandlied") except that the Nazis customarily used just the first verse and appended to it the "Horst-Wessel-Lied" accompanied by the so-called Hitler salute. Further consolidation of power was achieved on 30 January 1934 with the Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reichs (Act to rebuild the Reich). The act changed the highly decentralized federal Germany of the Weimar era into a centralized state. It disbanded state parliaments, transferring sovereign rights of the states to the Reich central government and put the state administrations under the control of the Reich administration. This process had actually begun soon after the passage of the Enabling Act, when all state governments were thrown out of office and replaced by Reich governors (German: Reichsstatthalter). Further laws ended any autonomy in local government. Mayors of cities and towns with less than 100,000 people were appointed by the governors, while the Interior Minister appointed the mayors of all cities with more than 100,000 people. In the case of Berlin and Hamburg (and after 1938, Vienna), Hitler reserved the right to personally appoint the mayors. In the spring of 1934, only the army remained independent from Nazi control. The German Army had traditionally been separated from the government and somewhat of an entity of its own. The Nazi paramilitary SA expected top positions in the new power structure. The Reichswehr feared Röhm's ambition to absorb the army into the SA under his own leadership. Röhm also aimed to launch the socialist "second revolution" to complement the nationalist revolution which had occurred with the ascendance of Hitler. Röhm and leaders of the SA wanted the regime to follow through its promise of enacting socialist legislation for Aryan Germans. Wanting to preserve good relations with the army, certain politicians and the major industries (who were weary of more political violence erupting from the SA), Hitler initiated the violent "Night of the Long Knives" on 30 June 1934. This was a purge of the leadership ranks of Röhm's SA as well as hard-left Nazis (Strasserists), and other political enemies, carried out by the SS and the Gestapo. At Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934 the Nazi-controlled Reichstag merged the offices of Reichspräsident and Reichskanzler and reinstalled Hitler with the new title Führer und Reichskanzler. Until the death of Hindenburg, the army did not follow Hitler, partly because the paramilitary SA was much larger than the German Army (limited to 100,000 by the Treaty of Versailles) and because the leaders of the SA sought to merge the army into itself and to launch the socialist "second revolution." The murder of Ernst Röhm and the leadership of the SA, assured the army of its position. Hitler further promised expansions of the German military which brought friendlier relations between him and the Reichswehr. The death of Hindenburg brought the requirement of all soldiers' to take an oath of allegiance to obey Hitler alone and not the Reich or constitution of Germany. The Nazis thereafter proceeded to scrap their official alliance with the conservative nationalists and began to introduce Nazi ideology and Nazi symbolism into all major aspects of life in Germany. Schoolbooks were either rewritten or replaced and schoolteachers who did not support Nazification of the curriculum were fired. The inception of the Gestapo, police acting outside of any civil authority, highlighted the Nazis' intention to use powerful, coercive means to directly control German society. An army, estimated to be of about 100,000, spies and informants operated throughout Germany, reporting to Nazi officials the activities of any critics or dissenters. Most ordinary Germans, happy with the improving economy and better standard of living, remained obedient and quiet, but many political opponents, especiallyneeded communists and Marxist or international socialists, were reported by omnipresent eavesdropping spies and put in prison camps where many were tortured and killed. It is estimated that tens of thousands of political victims died or disappeared in the first few years of Nazi rule. Between 1933 and 1945 more than 3 million Germans had been in concentration camps or prison for political reasons. Tens of thousands of Germans were killed for one or another form of resistance. Between 1933 and 1945 Special Courts killed 12,000 Germans, courts martial killed 25,000 German soldiers, and 'regular' justice killed 40,000 Germans. Many of these Germans were part of the government civil or military service, a circumstance which enabled them to engage in subversion and conspiracy while involved, marginally or significantly, in the government's policies." From 1936 to 1939, the Nazis embarked on a series of peaceful territorial expansions. First, the coal-mining region of the Saar voted for return to the Reich. Then the Army marched into the Rhineland to no opposition. Anschluss with Austria was also concluded easily with the colussion of local Nazis. The Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia was delivered up by France and Britain at the Munich Conference. After bullying Czech President Hacha into line, Hitler moved into the remainder of Czechslovakia (allowing Slovakia to break away to form an independent state). World War II in Europe The next territory was the Danzig and the Polish Corridor, between the main part of Germany, and East Prussia. Poland refused to give in, and Britain and France stated that they would declare war to guarantee Poland's borders. The Nazis signed a pact with the USSR, and on the 1st of September 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland. Over the next five years, the fortunes of the war were heavily in Germany's favour, then began to swing back with German defeats at Volgograd, and El Alamein (and North Africa in general). In late 1943, the Allies invaded continental Europe, moving into Italy, which changed sides. The Allies had spent years preparing another invasion of the continent. They intended to attack across the English Channel into France. Ending the War On the 6th of June, 1944, the Allies invaded France. Field Marshal Rommel, acting on his own, mobilised every German unit that could be mobilised, and counterattacked. Though German losses were heavy, the invaders' losses were worse. The Allied force had failed to get more than five miles from the shoreline. On the next day, General Eisenhower withdrew his forces, and resigned. Churchill and Roosevelt planned to re-group and invade in summer 1945. Others had different ideas. In Britain, Churchill lost the confidence of the House of Commons, and was replaced by Lord Halifax, while in the United States, Joseph Kennedy won on a platform of "Peace with Germany, Victory over Japan in 1945!". A quick by-election victory puts Halifax into the Commons. Halifax and Kennedy agree on Peace with Germany, but Halifax wants peace with Japan as well (in return for the withdrawal of Japanese forces from British colonies). This was met with violent disagreement from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which vowed separately that they will continue fighting Japan. In the event, the British decided to fight on against Japan. In Stockholm, an Armistice between the British Empire, the United States, and Germany was signed in March 1945. Germany transfered several million men to the Eastern Front. Some of them were used to halt the Russian advance, while others (plus new recruits) are refitted behind the lines. Both the German atomic bomb, and strategic bomber projects had breakthroughs in late 1945. In June 1946, Germany announced that it has a new weapon of terrible power, the ultimate miracle weapon. On 14 October 1946, the Germans launch a nuclear strike with six nuclear weapons. Their bombers strike Russian forces at the front, industrial targets in the Urals, and Stalingrad with nuclear weapons. Two bombs hit Russian forces in Poland, three hit industrial targets in the Urals, and one destroys Stalingrad, the site of Germany's greatest defeat. Shortly after, a massive German offensive was launched. The aim was to grab as much territory as possible before the onset of Winter. The offensive went through the gap in Russian lines. The shock of the nuclear attacks affects the Russians more than the destruction. The Soviets failed to contain the offensive, and several divisions were cut off and destroyed. Hitler was elated, this echoed the successes of 1941. The radiation casualties were covered up (most were euthanased in secret hospitals). Hitler even talked of taking Moscow by Christmas 1946! The Russian Army had other ideas, they intend to conquer Moscow themselves. The USSR's Generals took the hint of the German nuclear attacks. They were convinced that Germany had enough bombs to completely destroy Russia (in fact the initial German nuclear bomb production run was eight, including one test, and six used in the October attack). On 7 November 1946 (the 29th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution), STAVKA put its plan into action. Forces loyal to Zhukov lock down Moscow and occupy the Kremlin, arresting the Politburo. Stalin, Voroshilov, and several other high leaders were killed. Beria was executed on the spot and Konev made head of the NKVD. Zhukov declared himself head of the Interim Council of State and immediately requested an armistice from the Germans. A treaty was concluded and signed in January. One of the more important clauses of this treaty was the return to Germany of all communist party members staying in Russia. Since the new Russian administration was keen to get rid of all communists (indeed, thousands of CPSU officials were shot out of hand), Zhukov was only too happy to turn these foreign communists over to the Nazis. Some were eliminated, most served a few years in a concentration camp, before being released. Some even joined the NSDAP, and became ardent Nazis. Later, Russia became a monarchy under Emperor Vladimir Cyrillovich. There was some communist partisan activity (on both the German and Soviet sides of the cease-fire lines), but it was eventually suppressed. In late 1947/1948, Zhukov and the ruling junta announced that they intend to draft a new constitution for Russia, producing a constitution that restored the empire but guaranteed the population the same civil rights as the 1934 Soviet Constitution and also promised to not fundamentally upset the economic order, i.e., there would be no return to the era of noble power. Setting the Post War Stage After the Soviets gave in, Halifax’s parliament (by now consisting largely of the appeasement lobby or outright fascists) recalled Edward VIII, and impeached King George VI. His eldest daughter was crowned in Ottawa in 1953 (after her father's death in 1952), and denounced her uncle, accusing him of being a pretender and stating that she is the true Queen of Britain and the Commonwealth. The dispute between King James III (the son of Edward VIII, born in 1956) and Queen Elizabeth II still goes on. After a long island-hopping campaign, the United States, and the Commonwealth defeated Japan in August 1945. The war is ended by surrender after the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan. Japan is occupied by the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia and becomes an important American ally in Asia. German-American relations were generally peaceful, and Germany used that time to reconstruction, normalisation of its government (especially in Europe), and establish sympathetic governments in South America, the Middle East, and Asia. The Reich's massive war damage caused it to neglect Europe's colonies, and a process of independence started slowly. Germany gained two allies in Africa (in addition to the European colonies in North Africa and the Horn of Africa), Egypt and South Africa. Germany's good relationship with America would not last long inspite of the fact that no one in Germany saw it coming. After the shock of defeat, people were keener to face the Nazis with a strong Western front. General MacArthur won the 1948 election against Joseph P. Kennedy. After that, German-American relations became extremely cool. It also meant the end of one of the old guard. Hitler blamed von Ribbentrop for the cooling off in relations and the absence of any warning. Joachim von Ribbentrop was sent to Paraguay as Ambassador (it was publicly stated that it was for personal reasons). "Independence" for Europe After the war, Germany sought to formalise its control over Europe, as well as end the occupation of most of Europe's states. As early as August 1945, the German foreign office put together proposals to return independence to no less than four West European countries. These countries included Italy, France, Norway, and the Netherlands. Ribbentrop strongly advocated independence for all of the European states. Ribbentrop was no lover of the idea of national independence (except that of Germany, of course). Ribbentrop was interested in a power grab. The standing situation was that real power in the occupied countries was divided between the Wehrmacht and the SS. The Reich Minister of Armaments, the Reich Labour Ministry, the Reich Economics Ministry, and the Reichsbank exercised effective economic power. The role of the German foreign office was essentially non-existent. At most, Ribbentrop's men served as messengers between the German government and the puppet governments. With nominal independence, all German control would have to be exercised by diplomatic means through the foreign office. Colonial Matters After the war, Germany found itself in effective control over a large set of colonial empires. This was something the Nazis had never expected. Unlike Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hitler did not favour colonialism in Africa and Asia for Germany, Hitler saw Germany's imperial ambitions being fulfilled in eastern Europe and Russia. Germany needed a policy for the colonies of their new vassals. Their initial policy was simple - leave the European states with empires to their own devices. Germany was still facing a strong potential enemy in Russia, and a Cold War with the United States. It could not afford to be tied down in places that no German had heard of. Hitler was firm on this - they must not help the European nations maintain empires unless it directly benefited Germany. Shortly after the accession of Elizabeth II to the British throne, most of the British colonies in Africa, and the Americas decided to recognise Elizabeth II as their rightful sovereign, and were content to take instructions from Ottawa. France had informed Britain that unless the Governor of British Guiana swore allegiance to King Edward VIII and his government followed the instructions of Lord Halifax's Colonial Secretary, France would invade from French Guiana. A new Governor was promptly flown out to Georgetown (an ironic name!) to take over. To prevent any issues with Germany's Nationalist Chinese allies, new Governors were appointed to Hong Kong and Macau by Britain and Portugal. Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, and the Dutch East Indies were lost to Germany, as they were crawling with American and Australian troops. France lost its African colonies south of the Sahara. The Vichy French however managed to reassert themselves in Indochina and North Africa. Portgual resolved to fight to keep its colonies, but (by 1975) Russian-backed and American-backed militias had made the situation in Mozambique, and Angola untenable for Portugal. Korean War Nationalist China occupied Korea down to the 38th Parallel, while the US occupied Korea up to the 38th parallel. North Korea was turned over to the National Socialist Korean Workers Party led by Kim Il Sung, an intense follower of Hitler. He wanted to unite Korea, and Germany, not wanting to miss a chance to humiliate President MacArthur, supported him with arms and advice through China. The North Korean invasion quickly swamped the South Korean Army, and the small number of Americans in Korea, and in short order, the remaining Southern soldiers and the Americans were trapped in a pocket around Pusan with their backs to the sea. MacArthur assigns General George S. Patton the job of relieving the Pusan perimeter. Patton decides on a landing at Inchon. Initially successful, Patton drives his troops almost all the way to the Yalu. At that point, China entered the war. After being pushed south again, Patton publicly called for the use of nuclear weapons against China and Germany. In outrage, MacArthur fired Patton, and appointed General Ridgeway to command the Allied effort in Korea. Over the next two years, a bloody stalemate ensued until an Armistice was signed in 1953. The Cold War The ending of the Korean War was merely the beginning of a new phase in what was now called the "Cold War". Both sides had nuclear weapons, and the means to deliver them. The strategy of both Hitler and MacArthur was massive retaliation. Any attack would warrant a immediate, massive, nuclear response. As nuclear stockpiles increased on both sides, it was clear that the movement of a single Panzer battalion into Russia could potentially end all life of the globe. In the mean time, both sides attempted to expand their influence in the post-colonial "Third World". Men like the fascist Peron in Argentina and the capitalist nationalist Sukarno in Indonesia drew the battle lines of the Cold War. In Africa, the proxy battles over former-colonies could be three way affairs with pro-American, pro-Russian, and pro-German factions. In the Americas, this proxy-Cold War was most controversial. The United States saw the expansion of German influence in the Americas as a direct threat. The Monroe Doctrine held that the expansion of influence of European powers in the Americas was a threat to the United States. State after state fell into the Fascist fold. Apart from the Guianas (British, French, and Dutch), Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay fell under German-influenced dictators (one of whom, Alfredo Strößner of Paraguay, even had German parents). However most controversial of the pro-Nazi Latin American leaders was Fidel Castro of Cuba. Castro's rebel army overthrew the pro-American dictator Batista and put Cuba on the course to National Socialism. A totalitarian government with a secret police force and concentration camps was established. Laws repressing the Afro-Cuban population were imposed. Critics of Castro have said that "Castro took the 1935 Nuremberg Race Laws, crossed out 'Jew' and replaced it with 'Nigger'". In Kennedy-era America, the "Havana Race Laws" (as they were called in the English-speaking world) were a convenient stick with which to beat (rhetorically) the Castro regime. The Kennedy Administration decided to act against Castro. A force of Cuban exiles with CIA help invaded Cuba in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs, but the lack of US air support doomed the invasion to failure. This, combined with other (almost amateurish) CIA operations against Castro drove him much closer to Germany. Although the Germans had a head start with their long range missile program during the war (The German V-2 rocket was the first viable long range missile) the US had jumped ahead during the 1950s. The German ICBM program was placed in to the hands of Wernher von Braun's team, and the Reich Air Ministry. The Reich Air Ministry insisted that the ICBM have the same level of mobility as the V-2 rocket, while the von Braun team focussed most of its energies on a space program. The space program showed far more progress than the missile program, with Germany placing the first artificial satellite in orbit in 1955, and the first man in 1959. As magnificent as these achievements were, they coincided with the stalling of the ICBM program. The only way for Germany to mount a nuclear attack on the United States was with bombers, and the USAF's and RCAF's interceptor squadrons could defeat bombers. American Jupiter and Thor missiles stationed in Russia and Saudi Arabia could cover any target in Europe with megaton thermonuclear warheads. The Germans decided to counter this by building bases in Cuba for their A-14 medium range ballistic missiles, and A-16 intermediate range ballistic missiles. When American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft spotted the construction of launch sites, an international crisis ensued (the Cuban Missile Crisis or Kubakrise). The United States armed forces initially considered bombing the launch sites and invading Cuba, predicting that the Germans would back down. President Kennedy believed that this would rapidly lead to nuclear war. Announcing that the US would not accept German offensive weapons in Cuba, President Kennedy imposed a blockade on Cuba. All ships approaching the island would be searched, those carrying offensive weapons would be turned back. Back-channel negotiations provided a solution, the Germans would remove their missiles and nuclear bombers from Cuba, in return the US would remove their missiles from Russia, and Saudi Arabia six months later and would pledge never to invade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a victory for the United States. Hitler was forced into a public backdown, and the United States replaced its intermediate range Jupiter and Thor missiles based overseas with increasing numbers of Atlas and Titan intercontinental ballistic missiles based in the US. Germany began a crash program to get an ICBM in service as soon as possible. Their program focused on the A-20 satellite launcher. With appropriate modifications, it was turned into a basic ICBM with the ability to cover any North American target from Eastern Europe (over the Arctic). Hardened surface shelters for the missiles and support facilities were built in Ostland, the Ukraine, and the General Government. By mid 1963, Germany had a modest but growing force of ICBMs armed with thermonuclear warheads. The Cuban Missile Crisis also brought the world closer to nuclear war than it had ever been before. Germany adopted a doctrine close to the American doctrine of flexible response. Conventional forces, and tactical nuclear forces would be built up. To this end, Hitler decided to abandon the military clauses of the Treaty on Final Settlement in Europe, and encourage the now fascist governments of Europe to develop powerful military forces. Britain, France, and Italy in particular were encouraged to move beyond colonial policing in Africa and develop military capabilities suitable to high-intensity warfare. The Wehrmacht was reorganised into regional "Fronts" to fight the Allies in a Third World War. Military collaboration in Europe embraced not only soldiers, sailors, and airmen, but also European designers and engineers. This would culminate in the formation of EADS GmbH in 2000, which consolidates almost all of Europe's defence and aerospace industries into a single conglomerate. In addition to the ICBM program, a team working for the Kriegsmarine under Arthur Rudolph was working on Germany's first U-boat launched ballistic missile. Germany developed the nuclear powered U-boat before the United States, but the missile program took longer. Rudolph found the solution, solid rocket fuel. With that development completed Germany was able to commission its first ballistic missile submarine in 1965 as a counter to the American Polaris submarines. Germany now had a functional nuclear triad. 1965 also bought a nuclear threat from Russia, which had developed its own nuclear weapons and intermediate range ballistic missiles. These could hit any West European target from Russia. Longer ranged missiles could be based in the Urals and beyond to cover the same targets. While the war in Vietnam raged, further developments in nuclear weaponry came to fruition including multiple warheads. Nuclear arsenals on both sides became so large that each could destroy the other many times over. Vietnam War see main article: Vietnam War The strategic significance of Asia in particular now occurred to Hitler, and to prevent another stalemate in Asia (or even defeat, though he did not say this), Hitler resolved to aid the Vichy French fight against the Viet Minh. The Viet Minh were an insurgent movement led by the charismatic Ho Chi Minh, who led his men against the French, then the Japanese, then the French again. The Viet Minh were supported heavily by the United States, which had formed a relationship with the Viet Minh during World War II. The Germans supported the French with arms, and released men from the Charlemagne Division of the Waffen SS to fight with the French. Despite this support, the French were defeated, and after the Siege of Dien Bien Phu, the French sued for peace. The histories of Vietnam and European Fascism had been linked since the defeat of France in 1940. The Viet Minh had driven out the army of Vichy France in 1954, and an extremely uneasy truce was proclaimed between the social democratic American-supported North Vietnam, and the fascist German-supported South Vietnam. The MacArthur Administration wanted the South brought to heel by the Northern leader Ho Chi Minh, and Ho was happy to oblige. Ho Chi Minh wanted to lead a united Vietnam. He reactivated the southern Viet Minh as the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, commonly known as the Viet Dan Chu or VDC). The VDC began its fight by carrying out terrorist attacks throughout the South's cities, and guerrilla warfare in the jungles, rubber plantations and rice paddies of South Vietnam. Germany decided to aid the South Vietnamese in their fight against democracy. Germany started by supplying equipment, then moved on to advisors. By 1962, the advisors were taking small parts in the fighting. This was especially true of the Luftwaffe. By 1965, Hitler (in one of his last orders) sent two Army divisions and two SS division to South Vietnam. A large Luftwaffe force was sent. Despite victories in the battles, the German generals had little idea of the type of the enemy they were fighting, or of the support they were receiving from the United States. The Germans had no international support outside the EU, and its small circle of allies. By 1972, the Germans decided to leave the South Vietnamese to their own devices (with German logistical support). In 1975, the South fell (producing one of the most famous images of the war, an American-made M48 tank bearing the flag of the National Liberation Front bursting into the Presidential Palace in Saigon). In months, the Pathet Lao had taken over Laos driving out the pro-German monarchy, and the pro-Nazi Lon Nol regime in Cambodia was defeated by the pro-American Khmer Bleu. The defeat in Vietnam was Germany's first real defeat (World War II, and Korea being stalemates). After Hitler Hitler's death in 1968 led to marked change in the Third Reich. The office of Fuhrer was discontinued, and the old offices of Reich President and Reich Chancellor were reinstated as separate posts. The two people selected could scarcely have been better, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, and Reich Minister Albert Speer. Both men had a good working relationship going back to the war. Dönitz and Speer established a more or less normal collective government in Germany. Hitler's detailed will (he not only appointed Dönitz and Speer, but the entire Cabinet as well) prevented a long power struggle at the top of the NSDAP. Dönitz and Speer also formalised European governance, turning the EEC into the European Union. From 1972 onwards, the European Union steadily expanded its power over European nations, bringing them to the point that 80% of the laws of Britain or Greece are in fact made by the EU's (largely German) civil service. Cold War sabre rattling continued between the great powers and their allies for the next few decades. The build-up of nuclear weapons continued at break-neck speed. In addition to US nuclear weapons, Germany and its allies now had to face the nuclear forces of Russia, Canada, and Australia. The costs of newer nuclear weapons were spinning out of control, with the Luftwaffe demanding a new generation of mobile ICBMs. The costs of preparations for nuclear war, and conventional war, combined with the costs of the Vietnam War, placed an immense burden on the German economy. Hitler had shown (and Speer believed) that living standards could only be pushed down so far before the people "cracked" and demanded a change in the economy, and ultimately, in leadership. It goes without saying that any Nazi would rather die than contemplate that sort of change. Speer's policy was to negotiate a way out of the Vietnam War, to strengthen Germany's East European allies, and to pursue nuclear arms control talks with the United States. American President Johnson was keen to pursue arms control talks, and preliminary discussions took place as early as 1969. Johnson had said publicly that "Speer is a man we can do business with". American anti-Nazis retorted that the only "business" one could do with the Nazis was "the oldest business in the world". Nevertheless, the talks continued. An agreement was finally reached, and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty was signed in 1972, and ratified shortly after. SALT required both sides to slightly reduce the number of land-based ballistic missiles, capped the number of nuclear-armed strategic bombers with intercontinental range (such the US B-52 or the German Ta 800, and only allowed for new submarine-launched ballistic missiles (counted in launch tubes, rather than submarines) if the same number of land-based missiles were removed. The SALT Treaty was the first component of Detente between superpowers. The agreement was significant, but it had flaws. These flaws came to light in 1973 when the new US President, Barry Goldwater, was inaugurated. he was an anti-Nazi and a critic of SALT. While he was not prepared to abrogate the treaty or withdraw from it, he sought advice on how to circumvent the treaty. While Germany felt the relief of withdrawing from Vietnam and reducing its own nuclear spending, the Goldwater Administration put the pressure on. They encouraged the government of North Vietnam to attack South Vietnam, and launched the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons. American land-based missiles were equipped with multiple warheads called "MIRVs" or "multiple independent reentry vehicles". One missile could now to the job that required three before. The capping on the number of bombers was based on the premise that such bombers would be armed with one or two bombs. Goldwater pushed for the development of smaller cruise missiles. The ALCM project called for a weapon small enough for a B-52 to carry 20. As these American weapons came into service, Speer and his foreign minister looked like a joke. They had been hoodwinked by the Americans who the Nazis had always derided as "uncultured" and "stupid". The Germans struggled to catch up. A MIRVed ICBM was already in the works in Germany, and a crash program allowed Germany to adapt this to existing ICBMs. The German Navy was less lucky, but the retirement of older land-based ICBMs and older ballistic missile U-boats allowed the introduction of a new class of ballistic missile U-boats. This new class had larger launch tubes, allowing for a MIRV missile (in contrast, the US were able to MIRV their Polaris missile, and some of their newer Polaris submarines could be fitted with the new Poseidon missile). Germany's economic circumstances continued to worsen. To fund this expenditure, Germany printed government bonds and coerced its European allies into buying these bonds. Germany was essentially exporting its inflation into Europe. Clearly, this could not continue forever. Fortunately for Speer, it didn't. In the United States, Jimmy Carter unexpectedly won the 1976 election, and was inaugurated in 1977. Carter favoured a return to detente, and canceled many of the new nuclear weapon systems coming into service or in development (including the MX missile). Carter also initiated new negotiations with Germany regarding a new Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II as it was known). Formal talks began in 1979, and a basic framework was agreed involving capping the maximum number of warheads a missile could be allowed to have, and a maximum number of weapons an aircraft could be allowed to carry. Germany's extensive intelligence operations provided invaluable information to aid the process. The Germans received all kinds of information regarding the MX missile and Trident, as well as the now canceled B-1 bomber. These intelligence operations were however brought to a sudden end in mid-1980. A combined operation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Together they disrupted a number of German intelligence operations in the US, Canada, and Australia. Both the Abwehr and the Ausland-SD were affected by the disruptions. This scandal destroyed the SALT II talks, and a political scandal in the United States destroyed Carter's chances of reelection. Reich Chancellor Albert Speer's health declined through out 1980 and 1981. On the 1st of March 1981, Albert Speer suffered a stroke and died. The Eighties Unlike Hitler, Speer did not leave a detailed political will. This inevitably lead to a power struggle in the NSDAP. For the while, Speer's Deputy Chancellor Karl Carstens ruled as caretaker while the NSDAP chose a new leader. The contenders were Reichsführer-SS Erich Mielke, Reichleiter Erich Honecker, Foreign Minister Kurt Waldheim, and Deputy Chancellor Karl Carstens. Of these contenders, Carstens was without doubt the weakest. He had little support, and was appointed Deputy Chancellor because Speer did not regard him as a possible threat. In addition, he was in his late sixties, and there were concerns about his health. He had collapsed at a reception in 1980, and smoked heavily (which did not please the NSDAP ideologues). Waldheim appeared to be the strongest contender, at least he did to outside observers. He could take a large portion of the credit for the SALT agreements, and for the other elements of detente. He also had a respectable war record (unlike all the other contenders. Mielke and Honecker were seen overseas as the outside runners. Both men were former Communists, and both had been interned in concentration camps in the late 1940s. The foreign observers who made these observations about Mielke and Honecker did not take post-war Nazi principles into account. In the absence of the USSR, communism essentially ceased to be a threat. Ex-communists could get by if they adapted themselves to new princples. While interned (both in Dachau Concentration Camp), both men quickly turned to collaboration with their captors. Mielke in particular was ruthless in beating his fellow prisoners into line. In 1949, both were released with notations along the lines of "fully reformed, ready to enter National Socialist society". Outside the camps, Mielke and Honecker independently came to the view that the best way to survive was to be more Nazi than the Nazis. Mielke made his way up in the SS, while Honecker joined the Party. In 1970, Mielke succeeded Heinrich Himmler as Reichsführer of the SS. Honecker managed to do so well, that he combined the state post of Reich Minister of European Affairs {responsible for official control of the other European states) as well as Reichsleiter of the NSDAP/AO and Relations with Allied Parties (in other words, responsible for political control of other European political parties such as the Parti Populaire Français and the British Union of Fascists). Their successes removed the communist taint (another factor in removing it was the fact that anyone who mentioned Mielke's past was likely to find himself in Auschwitz). In the post-Hitler era, the leadership of the Nazi Party was essentially decided by the Reichsleiters and the Gauleiters. The voting process was basically a formality, the prior politicking was what mattered. Carstens was persuaded to drop out of the race quite early. His heart wasn't really in it, and he was promised continuance in the Deputy Chancellor role as long as he wanted, and a very comfortable retirement. Curiously, all of the remaining three contenders made this promise. Waldheim could take the credit for detente, but with that came the blame for the debacles of SALT, and the Paris Accords. Although these were essential for Germany, they were tough. Honecker bought Waldheim into his camp by promising him the new position of "Chairman of the European Community". Kicking Waldheim upstairs would save him (and everyone else) a lot of problems. That left the problem of Mielke. Honecker sought out an old friend, SS-Oberstgruppenführer Wilhelm Franz of the Reich Security Main Office. He started an enquiry into the 1980 spy scandal. Franz assigned a famously indiscreet officer to the enquiry, and the story rapidly got out. Honecker told Mielke that he owned Mielke a favour for "the Dachau days", and that he could insure that ensure that the enquiry would exonerate Mielke and his men. All Mielke had to do in return was publically support Honecker. In reality, Honecker had no intention of protecting Mielke, but Mielke believed him. Mielke's entire SS career had been in the RSHA, mainly in the Gestapo, and this seems to have made him paranoid. He was so afraid of the embarrassment of the enquiry into foreign counter-intelligence that he would accept any offer that would protect him. On the 18th of March 1981, the Reichsleiters and Gauleiters of the NSDAP met in Munich in the "Brown House", and elected Erich Honecker as leader of the NSDAP. In Berlin, Reichsadmiral Karl Dönitz appointed him Chancellor that evening. Two months earlier, Ronald Reagan had been sworn in as President of the United States. Reagan was elected on a platform that included a stronger attitude to Nazi Germany and the EEC. Increased defence spending was a key feature of the Reagan strategy. To respond, Europe had to strain its economic resources. Honecker was successful in persuading most of the European states to increase their defence spending. Although Germany by itself had a smaller economy than the US, the European Economic Community all together had a larger economy than the US. A lot of the slack was taken up by the European states, which expanded their military forces. Honecker found gaining agreement on this point easy, he had long-standing relationships with all of Europe's political leaders, and the militaristic element of Fascism ideology made the various European governments only too keen to spend more and recruit more. Military budgets increased steadily, as did the level of debt and deficit. Having Europe arm itself was making it possible for Germany to sustain this pace. While fortifying Europe against the "Reagan threat", Honecker took care of the threat at home, in the form of the resentful Mielke. Evidence was presented to Honecker that someone very senior in the SS was passing information to the United States, and that this leakage was largely responsible for the destruction of a large portion of German intelligence operations. The report refrained from naming the actual man responsible, but the reports of someone close to Mielke passing information to the enemy were too much for Honecker to ignore. Honecker, backed by the Army, confronted Mielke. Mielke said that his own internal security personnel had cleared everyone of senior rank in the SS. Honecker persisted, and demanded that Mielke step down. The Commander of the Army told Mielke that the Wehrmacht would take any steps necessary to safeguard Germany. Mielke saw this (correctly) as a direct threat. Mielke resigned, and was allowed to move to Chile (where he lived until 2000). The man who presented (or, according to some sources, concocted) the evidence was appointed as his replacement, Wilhelm Franz. The Army too supported Franz, who was a distinguished Waffen-SS veteran of the Vietnam War. Honecker decided that the best way to "shake" American confidence was proxy military action. He authorised Italian and French action again Chad, and supported a Tamil independence movement in Sri Lanka. Honecker invited the Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Berlin, and sent more advanced arms to Iraq such as the Leopard 2 main battle tank, and the Messerschmitt Me 663 fighter. Even Tornados were sent to Iraq, turning Iraq into a major military power in the Gulf region. South Africa was offered military equipment on very easy payment terms, and given approval to transfer older German-made equipment to Rhodesia. China's requirements were too large for even German industry to fill, but German technicians set up advanced production lines in China for the latest German military equipment. Inside the Reich, laws which had been loosened by Speer were doubly tightened by Honecker. Gestapo and SD recruitment were increased. Ausland-SD units received conditional authorisation to assassinate dissidents and German exiles abroad. In addition to building up Honecker had never had good health at the best of times, and the years in Dachau had taken their toll on him. On the 29th of May 1985, Erich Honecker suffers an aneurysm and dies. Unlike the passing of Speer, the death of Honecker did not lead to a power struggle inside the NSDAP. Only one candidate was viable, and that was Reichsführer Wilhelm Franz. =Government= The modern executive and legislative branches of government of the Greater German Reich bears little resemblance to the government of the Hitler-years. The only resemblence is traces of the "institutional duality" between the State and the Party. The judiciary however is essentially the same. Executive The titular head of state in Germany is the Reich President, who is elected by the Reichstag. He appoints a Reich Chancellor to run the government's day to day operations. Decisions are made by the Cabinet (chaired by the Chancellor) and ratified by the President. The Third Reich has the following cabinet departments: *Reich Ministry of Finance **Reich Treasury Office *Reich Foreign Ministry *Reich Interior Ministry **General Inspector of the Reich Capital **Office of the Councillor for the Capital of the Movement **Office of the Reich Master Forester *Reich Ministry of European Affairs *Reich Ministry of the Eastern Territories *Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda *Reich Ministry of Defence **High Command of the Wehrmacht ***High Command of the Army ***High Command of the Navy ***High Command of the Luftwaffe *Reich Ministry of Aviation **Lufthansa *Reich Ministry of Justice *Reich Economics Ministry **Office of the President of the Reich Bank *Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture *Reich Labour Ministry **Reich Labour Service *Reich Ministry for Science, Education, and Public Instruction **Reich Youth Office *Reich Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs *Reich Transportation Ministry **Reichsbahn **Office of the Inspector for Highways *Reich Postal Ministry *Reich Ministry for Armaments Legislative Germany's legislative body is the unicameral Reichstag. The Deputies of the Reichstag are elected to four year terms. All must be members of good standing in one of the three political parties. Proportional representation is used,. No Nazi election has ever returned a less than 98.6% result for the NSDAP. All other parties act in a grand coalition with the NSDAP. There are currently 616 Nazis in the Reichstag Political Parties: *National Socialist German Workers' Party *German National People's Party *German Völkisch Freedom Party National Socialist German Workers' Party The National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) is the government party of the Third Reich. Apart from the fact that most state officials must be members of the Nazi Party, the Nazis control a number of organisations which are instrumental to the running of Germany. European Union The European Union is ostensibly a free union of European nations. In fact, it is the means by which Nazi Germany governs Europe. It replaced the patchwork of Occupation ministries and military governments that had previously prevailed. It also replaced the various departments of the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs which dealt with pupped governments such as that of Vichy France. It was founded in 1957 as an initiative of Himmler and Speer. List of Leaders of the Greater German Reich Heads of State Heads of Government =Administrative Regions= The Greater German Reich is divided into the German Reich, the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Reichskommissariat Ukraine, the Reichskommissariat Ostland, and the General Government. The German Reich itself is divided into several Gaue (singular: Gau) and Reichsgaue (singular: Reichsgau).The Gaue were simply Nazi Party divisions, but since 1957, the Gaue were civil government divisions. The Gaue are as follows: #Gau Baden #Gau Bayreuth #Gau Berlin #Gau Düsseldorf #Gau Essen #Gau Franken #Gau Halle-Merseburg #Gau Hamburg #Gau Hessen-Nassau #Gau Köln-Aachen #Gau Kurhessen #Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt #Gau Mainfranken #Gau Mark Brandenburg #Gau Moselland #Gau Mecklenburg #Gau München-Oberbayern #Gau Niederschlesien #Gau Oberschlesien #Gau Ost-Hannover #Gau Ostpreußen #Gau Pommern #Gau Sachsen #Gau Schleswig-Holstein #Gau Schwaben #Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig #Gau Thüringen #Gau Weser-Ems #Gau Westfalen-Nord #Gau Westfalen-Süd #Gau Westmark #Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern #Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen #Reichsgau Kärnten #Reichsgau Niederdonau #Reichsgau Oberdonau #Reichsgau Salzburg #Reichsgau Steiermark #Reichsgau Sudetenland #Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg #Reichsgau Wartheland #Reichsgau Wien =Demographics= Germany's demographics have been subjected to more government interference than any nation on Earth. The key text of National Socialism, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) formulates the Weltanschauung of Nazism with the ideologic trinity of: history as a struggle for world supremacy among the human races, conquered only by a master race, the Herrenvolk; the decisive, autocratic Führerprinzip (leader principle); and anti-Semitism targeting the Jews as the universal source of socio-cultural and economic discord. Accordingly, Nazi Germany pursued a policy of policy of maximising the birth rate of so-called "Aryan" couples, euthanasia of the disabled, sterilisation of the "retarded". Nazi Germany is openly anti-Semitic. The German Government states that all German Jews (and most Jews from other European states) were resettled to a territory in Ostland (in the former-Byelorussian SSR) called "Judenland" (Jews' Land). These Jews are reported to number 5 million, but are not counted in the Reich Census. German families are encouraged to have as many children as possible. Bonuses, tax breaks, parental leave, and medals serve to promote reproduction. To cater for unwanted children, most German government agencies maintain a relationship with Lebensborn. A baby can be abandoned at a police station, fire station, hospital, NSDAP office, and that baby can be adopted out to willing parents. If one or both parties in a German marriage is unable to have children for medical reasons, they are required to adopt at least one child. Inside the German Reich, there are 300 million people, over 93% of them are of German ethnicity. The remainder are Frenchmen living in former-Luxemburg (now part of the Gau Köln-Aachen) and the former Alsace-Lorraine areas (now part of the Gau Westmark and Gau Baden), Italians in the Reichsgau Tirol-Vorarlberg, Poles in Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen and Reichsgau Wartheland, Danes living in Gau Schleswig-Holstein and Czechs in Reichsgau Sudetenland. A variety of others of East European heritage live in Ostmark. This covers only German citizens. In addition to them are approximately five million immigrants. Many are EU citizens living in Germany for work (including foreign government officials, and EU officials). It is possible for Europeans of "Nordic" background who are proficient in German to obtain Reich Citizenship. In practice, this is limited to Britons and Scandinavians. Most of the immigrant population are Gastarbeiter from Eastern Europe who come to Germany for a set length of time for "working class" jobs. Other points of origin for Gastarbeiter are Cuba, North Korea, China, Pakistan, Chile, Venezuela, Egypt, Iraq, and Indonesia. They are typically funded by an employer, and live in dormitories provided by the employer. To prevent the births of non-Aryan children who could become a charge on the German government, easy abortion is provided, and encouraged for Gastarbeiter. Another category of immigrant is the "Ostarbeiter". These workers come from the General Government, Ostland and the Ukraine. They are controlled even more strictly than the Gastarbeiter. Actions which would result in the deportation of a Gastarbeiter typically mean death for the Ostarbeiter. Ostarbeiter usually work on the land or in domestic labour, while Gastarbeiter tend to work in industry, mines and the retail sector. After the fall of South Vietnam, the Vietnamese Gastarbeiter were "Germanised" (that is, given citizenship and "declared" to be Special Aryans". The Ukraine, and Ostland host large numbers of German colonists. Apart from government workers, there are numerous farmers, and businessmen in the Ukraine and Ostland. Ostland is approximately 30% German, with 50% of the Ostland population consisting of "Germanised Balts". Planned famines in the forties and fifties resulted in the death of most of the Russian and Byelorussian population. The people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were encouraged to produce children at a high rate to repopulate Ostland. The situation in the Ukraine is somewhat different as there is no equivalent to the (relatively) pro-German Baltic peoples. Germans consist of 40% of the population. Ukranians are treated as serfs, but if a Ukranian goes to the Reich as an "Ostarbeiter", his family is treated generously. Like Ostland, famines after the war greatly reduced the Ukranian population. The General Government is almost entirely Polish. Only 20% of the population are German, and they consist mainly of police, soldiers, government administrators, and business managers. The Poles are used as a labour pool for the Reich. Factories built there are cheap to operate. German regulations on working hours, salary, safety, workplace harassment, and other conditions do not apply. The Poles are essentially treated as slaves. =Geography= Germany's claimed territory extends from France to Russia. It embraces a variety of climates from the cold dry climate of the German Alps, to the wooded forests of Northern Germany, and the plain of Eastern Germany. It also includes the almost Mediterranean climate of the Black Sea coast of Southern Ukraine, and the vast grain fields of Ostland and the Ukraine. Much of Germany's Eastern Territory is not recognised by foreign powers. The unrecognised territory includes: *Alsace and Lorraine (formerly part of France, but German sovereignty is recongised by the French State *Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (formerly part of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovakian Government-in-Exile in Ottawa is recognised as the legitimate government of Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia) *Danzig (recongised as a "Free City") *General Government, Reichsgau Wartheland, Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen (Poland, the Polish Government-in-Exile in Ottawa is recognised by the US as the legitimate government of Poland) *Reichskommissariat Ukraine, Reichskommissariat Ostland (recognised by the US as parts of the Russian Empire) *Luxembourg (recognised as an independent state under the Luxembourg Government-in-Exile in Ottawa) The claimed territory of the Greater German Reich '''The territory of the Greater German Reich (as recognised by the League of Democracies, and Russia) Category:Nations Category:Greater German Reich Category:Nazi Cold War series